Cornucopia’s Take: While Cornucopia appreciates this potential move away from chemistry to biology, the industry remains committed to its mechanized viewpoints while ignoring the interconnected nature of life – both in the soil and above-ground. Big Ag insists that we need more food, yet ignores the vast waste in the food distribution system (no sales… Read more »
Search Results for: GMO
Report Finds Toxins/Carcinogens in Popular Brands of Toothpaste
Scorecard Identifies the “Dirtiest” and Safest, Even Organic, Alternatives The latest report by The Cornucopia Institute, an organic industry watchdog, uncovers serious problems in cosmetics industry regulations. Regulatory weaknesses and loopholes allow for the use of questionable, even harmful ingredients in personal care products, such as toothpastes, that could negatively impact the health of the… Read more »
Is Quinoa California Farmers’ New Kale?
Los Angeles Times by Geoffrey Mohan Source: LID, by Jonas Ingold Bryce Lundberg is elated, which is saying a lot for a California farmer these days. “Hop on in,” he says, wading into eight acres of ragged stalks, their seed tassels turning russet in the desert sun. Lundberg, 54, soon is chest-high in quinoa, a… Read more »
How Americans Gardened 260 Years Ago
Rodale’s Organic Life by Therese Ciesinski Source: Sarah Elliott Colonial Williamsburg shows us that when it comes to technique, not much has changed. The wooden yoke around my neck doesn’t hurt at first. I winch up two brimming wooden buckets from the well and attach them to the yoke. Now carrying 40 extra pounds of… Read more »
A Tale of Three Farms—in the Shenandoah Valley
by Mark Kastel I admit I’m kind of crazy. I don’t take too many vacations. But I do get out of my office frequently and really enjoy the opportunity to meet our members, and new folks, around the country while visiting their farms. In the middle of August I was invited to speak at the… Read more »
Monsanto, in Bid for Syngenta, Reaches for a Business It Left Behind
The New York Times by Andrew Pollack and Chad Bray Source: UGA College of Ag and Environmental Studies Over the last two decades Monsanto has cast off its century-long history as a chemical company and refashioned itself as an agricultural life sciences company, led by its genetically engineered seeds. But with its $45 billion bid… Read more »
Millennials’ Hunger for Fresh Foods Eats Into Food Giants’ Profits
Food giants’ sales slide as millennials lead shift toward niche brands. Star Tribune by Mike Hughlett Source: 406604 Breann Tierschel has expelled Lucky Charms from her family’s table in favor of oatmeal. The 30-year-old accountant, who lives on St. Paul’s East Side with her husband and young daughter, has reconstructed her family’s eating plan over… Read more »
A Bee of a Different Color
Native pollinators feel the sting of habitat loss U-T San Diego by Deborah Sullivan Brennan Sweat Bee Credit: John Baker In James Hung’s collection at UC San Diego is a kaleidoscope of native bees, many of which bear little resemblance to the honeybees and bumblebees we know. The biggest are grape-sized and glossy black, while… Read more »
Subterfuge: FDA’s Phase Out of Antibiotics for Animal Growth Purposes Ineffective — Will Disadvantage Small Farmers
[This action alert is now closed] [Please note that we have updated the previously incorrect docket number on the sample letter.] On December 11, 2013 the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) released a new draft guidance that asks animal-drug makers to voluntarily discontinue marketing antibiotics to farmers for faster livestock growth, limiting their use… Read more »
Subterfuge: FDA’s Phase Out of Antibiotics for Animal Growth Purposes Ineffective — Will Disadvantage Small Farmers
On December 11, 2013 the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) released a new draft guidance that asks animal-drug makers to voluntarily discontinue marketing antibiotics to farmers for faster livestock growth, limiting their use strictly to therapeutic uses. Will this billion-dollar industry make voluntary changes in order to protect the efficacy of important antibiotics used… Read more »
